Whether you identify as gay, lesbian, straight, transgender, bisexual, we all deserve equality. Pride week is an annual event that celebrates and promotes just that. The University Student Union (USU) Social Awareness Program and Code Red Entertainment presented their annual Pride Week during March 23 through March 27.
On the first day of pride week, Ashton Lee spoke in the Event Center encouraging others to feel okay in their own skin and that “twenty seconds of bravery is all you need to do something.”
Lee shared his story about finding his true self and his struggle when fighting for Manteca High School to let him use the facility that he felt the most comfortable using. In his case, he had always used the girls’ restroom, as he had previously identified himself as Kimberly Marie Lee, but when he realized that he felt more comfortable being a boy, it got awkward for not only girls to see him in the bathroom but he also felt like he was in the wrong place.
Lee acknowledged this issue with his high school, which then only led to him being in a more awkward position- using the staff restroom.
“It was really really really really weird seeing your principal using the urinal,” Lee said.
With the right determination, a couple meetings at the capitol and enough people on Lee’s side, Assembly Bill No. 1266 was passed. The bill reads “This bill would require that a pupil be permitted to (…) use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.” It passed in 2013.
“I didn’t have to be scared anymore,” Lee said. “Teachers would get in trouble if they didn’t respect me. I didn’t have to be scared anymore. I didn’t have to worry. I didn’t have to keep my pee in for six hours.”
For more information, Lee can be contacted at [email protected]
On Wednesday a pride parade was held in the quad, which included a couple of small floats from clubs supporting Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Week. This abbreviation has been updated through the years and is also known as “LGBTQIA,” which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and Ally. Many cities like San Francisco and Las Vegas host their own pride parade, as it is a time to celebrate the LGBT culture and pride.
As a California flag with an LGBT rainbow beneath it waved above the festivities, students participated in making bracelets, tie dye shirts, and playing a game of true or false in regards to stereotypes within the LGBT community.
“I’m openly gay so this hits close to home, like I didn’t get along with my father and most people don’t know the daily struggles of the LGBT community,” Daniel Garcia (freshman, Psychology) said. “I really wanted to spread awareness and it’s why I joined the Social Awareness Program.”
Garcia is a volunteer for Code Red Entertainment but he got the opportunity to plan and coordinate this year’s Pride Parade.
Pride Week then closed with a night full of laughter and dancing as the annual drag show was held in the Event Center with Andrew Merrill, also known as Jaymelah Vanity Moore, hosting the show throughout the night.
Men from organizations such as Kappa Sigma, the Sociology Club and the Veterans Club turned into drag queens for the night while Stephanie Landeros presented as a Drag King. Landeros, representing Love Evolution Club, amazed the crowd with a performance to Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk” dressed as a man. Other performances that entertained the audience were Caleb Wittstruck, from Kappa Sigma, who dressed in a blue dress imitating Disney’s Elsa from Frozen.
Closing the show, Moore went on stage to show everyone how a professional does it by amazing the crowd with numerous splits in the air and impressive sassy dance moves.
“This year I really wanted to involve students so I contacted as many orgs as I could and I had ten people apply and six who actually went through with it,” Caitlin Moses (junior, Child Development) USU’s Social Awareness Program Coordinator said.
For more information, Moore can be contacted at his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/msjaymelah.vanity